The Preacher's Daughter

Grace's POV

After leaving the record shop across the street from the venue, Chris and I walk back to the bus. Jake, Jinxx and Andy smile at us as we approach the bus and I see balloons sitting between the chairs. Bryan has his camera trained in on us, which makes me blush, but I try to ignore it, more interested in the out of place balloons.

As we get closer, I see a message written on the ground in pink chalk, that reads, “‘Falling in’ Love can be both beautiful and scary. I know this now, but I am ready.”

“What is this?” I demand, confused by the odd message.

“Looks like a clue,” Jake answers with a smirk. I then notice the smirks on everyone else’s faces. Obviously they know what’s going on, but aren’t about to tell me. Alright. I’ll bite.

Hmm...Falling in love, huh? I look up at the balloons and notice three that are letters. F. I. R. Falling in Reverse? Is the next clue at their bus?

Glancing over at Chris, I walk back to Falling’s bus, and sure enough, I find the next clue and a bouquet of blue daisies. Picking up the flowers, I read the next clue, “This is where the magic starts. Lights, Camera, Action, Hearts,” and there are drawings to go with this clue. A stage light and control panel. The control booth?

As I turn to find the control booth, I notice everyone is following me, including Bryan with his damn camera. I wonder why. Shrugging it off, I find my way to the control booth and find a note sitting on the panel itself and a big, white teddy bear sitting in the seat. I furrow my brow as I pick up the clue that says, “A question, an answer, a photo or two. Ink is the answer to this next clue."

The place we had that interview earlier? With a smirk, I follow instructions, as Chris grabs the teddy bear, slinging it onto his back with a toothy grin.

“What are you thinking, Grace?” Andy inquiries, from beside me.

“I'm thinking I'm going to find Ashley at the end of this, and I hope Chris won't flip about it and try kicking his ass,” I quietly reply.

“Why would I? You're an adult now, so you can make your own choices,” Chris states with a wider smirk, “Besides, I've already talked to him about it a bit.”

“You what?” I demand, my head snapping in his direction.

“Relax. Nothing bad,” He retorts, then points to the ground as we come upon the next clue, that is a quote from Romeo and Juliet. It's part of the balcony scene...Does he want me to go to the balconies? And if so, which one?

Heading back inside, I search the arena for a sign. I spot a pink teddy bear sitting in a chair in the balcony section and bolt for the stairs. When I get there, I pick up the teddy and card, reading, “Let's play dress-up! ;)”

“What's it say?” Chris calls up to me.

Holding up the card, I shout, “Let's play dress-up, with a winky face!”

“That would be the dressing room!” he states, “So get your ass down here and let's get moving!”

“On it!” I call back, heading for the stairs again. When I meet up with them again, we head for the dressing room, only to find another clue, a bouquet of peach roses and Ashley's cowboy hat. Reaching out for the clue, I quickly read it, “You're the only person 'front and center' in my mind and my heart."

Chris smirks, picking up the hat and placing it on my head as I reach down to pick up the bouquet and add it to the other, passing the pink bear to him. From behind me, I hear Andy softly say, “He must have come back and added the hat to this one.”

“It did say, ‘Let's play dress-up’ on it,” I state, turning to leave the dressing room and head back out to the seating area. It's got to be front and center seat.

Sure enough when I arrive, I find a clue that says, “You forgot to ask Alice, so why not Ask Alex?” and another bouquet of pink tulips. Ask Alex? Has to be Asking Alexandria, right? As I sit there and contemplate my answer, I decide it's worth a shot. I mean, there's no harm in trying.

Standing, I head outside the arena again, walking right up to Asking’s bus and find a bouquet of star and moon balloons waiting for me. In chalk a message has been left behind, wrote in blue among a nights sky. It says, “Dreams can come true. Mine certainly have with you.”

“Huh?” I murmur, furrowing my brow at the clue, “‘Dreams can come true...Mine certainly have with you’? Dreams...It's gotta be the bunks.”

“Then let's get going,” Chris says, grabbing the balloons and dragging me back to the bus. Pushing me up the stairs and into the bus, he chuckles.

Looking back at him, I check the bunks and find a bouquet of orange lilies and another clue on my bed. I pick them up, reading the card, which says, “Life is full of rhythm and sound. It lifts us up when we're feeling down. The beat of a drum matches my heart. You'll find me where music is art."

I walk out to them and read the card, before asking, “Anyone got any ideas?”

“Well, think it through, Grace. Take it line by line. ‘Life is full of rhythm and sound.’ Does that sound familiar in anyway?” Jinxx offers, smiling up at me.

I think long and hard before replying, “Not in the sense of a place.”

“Okay, how about the next line?” Jake presses, “‘It lifts us up when we're feeling down.’”

“Again, no,” I say, shaking my head.

“How about ‘The beat of a drum matches my heart’?” Chris inquires.

“Sounds more like a feeling, to me,” I state, focusing in on the last line, “‘You'll find me where music is art.’ Hmm…’Find me where music is art’...but music is art in itself.”

“But there's a specific place though where music truly gets to show its artistic wonder,” Andy tells me, with a smile, “It's our home away from home.”

I consider this added hint, before my eyes bulge and I shoot off in the direction of the venue. The guys run after me, and as I reach the doors, I yank it open to get backstage. I pause to look around the dark tunnels of the backstage area, then bolt down one of them. Quickly I find the stage and stumble upon Ashley.

He smiles happily, holding a bouquet of red roses with balloons tied off to the end of the stems, and a card that reads, “You've found me, but now there's only one question left. Will you be my girlfriend, Grace?"

I gasp, covering my mouth with my hands as I stare at him with wide eyes. He...He went through all this…? No way. Then, does that mean? Chris...He was in on it! That brat!

“So, what do you say, Grace?” Ashley softly inquires, walking up to me.

I nod, not trusting my voice, before dropping the cards and bouquets, launching myself into his arms. He laughs, dropping the flowers, balloons and card he had been holding to pick me up and spin me around. I giggle, hugging him close and kissing his cheek. He smirks at me as he sets me down again, then kisses me on the lips with a tenderness I've only ever seen in the movies.

“Wow,” I whisper, as we pull out of the kiss.

“Yeah, wow,” he repeats, smiling at me as he leans his brow against mine.

An applause from a couple of directions takes me by surprise and when I look, I see our tour mates sitting in the chairs and the Brides, plus Bryan standing off to the side of the stage. I blush, hiding my face in Ashley's chest, effectively knocking his hat off my head. He chuckles lightly, wrapping me in his arms again and kissing my hair.

“Is that why Bryan was following me with his camera?” I ask, looking up at Ash.

He smirks and answers, “Yeah. I asked him to, so I could go back and see your reaction to the hunt I'd set up for you.”

“I can't believe you went through so much trouble just to ask me out,” I murmur, shaking my head and smiling happily.

“You're worth all that trouble and more,” he whispers into my ear, “I've had feelings for you too, Grace, for a very long time. I was just too much of a chicken shit to admit it, then CC and I had a talk about it and he told me to go for it.”

“So, while you set this up…”

“I had him distract you,” he finishes for me, leaning in to kiss me again.

When we pull away again, I look back at Chris and say, “I never thought I would enjoy being lied to.”

“I didn't lie. You just didn't ask,” Chris retorts, laughing at me.

“Touche,” I reply, pointing at him and laughing with him.

Ash takes this moment to bend down, picking up the discarded items and sets the hat back on my head. He then passes me the bouquets of flowers and says, “For you, milady.”

I giggle like a schoolgirl, as I accept the bundles of flowers and he carries the cards and balloons. The Brides help me to the bus with all my presents, then Ash heads out to his car again.

Wondering what he's doing, I watch from the bus windows, then he walks back with something behind his back in a pretty purple gift bag. Upon entering the bus again, he passes the bag to me but says nothing.

I give him a look, before pulling out the black tissue paper, followed by a beautiful black and red marble vase, with sparkly silver hearts and stars all over it. Smiling I gently set it down on the counter and hug him tightly. He returns my hug, burying his face in my hair, then helps me trim all the stems of the flowers.

As I arrange them, Ashley smiles, adding a few here and there to create a perfectly beautiful display. He then pulls something from his pocket, peels a clear plastic sheet on both sides and sticks the vase to the countertop, near the sink, before adding a bit of water to it, using the sprayer. I grab my bag, remembering the trick I'd learned that's supposed to keep flowers fresh longer, and pull a penny from my wallet, dropping it into the water.

We then carry the balloons and teddy bears into the back lounge, setting them up on and near the small sofa back there. He sits down, pulling me onto his lap and whispers, “Thank you, Grace.”

“For what?” I softly demand, looking at him, “Shouldn’t I be the one thanking you?”

He shakes his head, before leaning in to whisper in my ear, “You said yes. You made my dream come true, so thank you.”

A chill runs down my spine as his warm lips and breath hit my skin, and I have to bite my lip to keep my reaction suppressed. When I recover, I lean in to whisper in his ear, “As did you. Thank you, Ash.”

His breathing hitches in his throat and I take the opportunity to wrap my arms around his shoulders and kiss him tenderly. He coils his arms around my waist, pulling me closer and deepening the kiss, ever so slightly. We stay like that for quite some time, until pulling out of the kiss. Leaning my head on his shoulder, he surprises me by picking me up, carefully carrying me through the bus.

“Could I trouble you to open that door?” he asks, smirking into my neck.

I lean forward to open it, then he walks down the few steps and kicks the door closed. He smiles at me, as our friends and family smirk and nod in approval.

Andy sighs, before saying, “As much as I hate to do this, it's time for sound check.”

I hop down out of Ash’s arms, then kiss his cheek, getting ready to sit back down, but he pulls me in and demands, “Where do you think you're going?”

“You have sound check, so-”

“Yeah. So? You're coming with us. CC said he was going to show you how rockstars live, right?” Ashley presses, pulling me against his side and walking after Andy and Jake.

With a content sigh, I realize just how blessed I am now as we enter the venue. Ashley pulls me on stage as they do sound check, and so I position myself on the stand in front of Chris’s drum set. That is until he pulls me from my perch and to him, having me sit on the stool and passing me his drum sticks.

“I'll tell you which one to hit and when to hit it,” Chris states, standing in front of me and climbs up onto the stand.

I nod, then follow his lead through sound check, but I notice Ash keeps smiling back at me, causing me to blush, as I try to focus on the task at hand. Chris gives me a wide smile, then peeks over his shoulder to see Ash looking back at me. He chuckles, shaking his head as he points at one of the drums and motions how I should hit it.

Once sound check is over though, the others leave Ash and me to our own devices. We’re still on the empty stage, and I walk around, admiring all the equipment on stage. It’s hard to believe I’m actually standing here, yet here I am. As I approach the guitars that belong to Jinxx and Jake, I pause to appreciate them.

Ashley wraps his arms around me from behind, pulling me close to his chest and whispers, “I can’t wait for our first date. What would you like to do for it?”

“Hmm, I don’t really know. How about you surprise me?” I reply, resting my hands on his and relaxing into his touch.

“That I can do,” he murmurs, kissing my shoulder, then leads me back to the bus.

Notes